‘End The Impunity’: Amnesty Raises Alarm Over Killings, Torture & Disappearances In Southeast
By IFEOMA IZUCHUKWU
Families Demand Answers as Amnesty Pushes Probe into South-east Killings
Rights group presents reports on alleged unlawful killings & police abuses as victims’ relatives seek justice
FOR years, families across parts of Nigeria’s South-east have searched for answers about relatives who disappeared after alleged arrests or encounters with security operatives.
Some say they have visited police stations and detention centres without finding their loved ones.
Others say they have received reports of deaths but have struggled to establish what happened.
Those experiences formed part of a wider conversation in Umuahia, Abia State, where Amnesty International Nigeria called for urgent investigations into alleged unlawful killings, torture, enforced disappearances and other rights violations across the South-east.
Amnesty Presents Two Reports
The organisation used the town hall meeting to present two reports on the security and human rights situation in the region.
One report, A Decade of Impunity: Attacks and Unlawful Killings in South-east Nigeria, documented at least 1,844 deaths between 2021 and mid-2023.
The deaths occurred across Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states.
Benedicta Ofili of Amnesty International Nigeria said the organisation’s findings pointed to a cycle of violence involving armed groups, security operations and other actors.
She said Amnesty had also documented allegations of raids, unlawful killings and enforced disappearances.
However, the organisation argued that many of the allegations had not received thorough and independent investigations.
For that reason, Amnesty called on the Federal Government, South-east governors, the Federal Ministry of Justice and security agencies to take action.
Tiger Base Comes Under Scrutiny
Attention also turned to the Imo State Police Command’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit, known as Tiger Base.
Amnesty researcher Maurice Chukwu presented the organisation’s second report, which detailed allegations against the unit.
According to the report, victims and families accused the unit of arbitrary detention, extortion, torture, deaths in custody and enforced disappearances.
The organisation also documented allegations involving children separated from detained mothers.
Chukwu said the allegations raised serious concerns under the Nigerian Constitution, the Anti-Torture Act and international human rights standards.
He called for independent investigations and fair trials for anyone found responsible for violations.
Amnesty also demanded reparations for survivors and families who lost relatives.
Relatives Bring Personal Stories to the Debate
Beyond the reports, the town hall placed human faces behind the statistics.
Several relatives described the pain of not knowing whether their family members were alive, detained or dead.
Miriam Onyema said security operatives arrested her husband, Kingsley Chinedu, in Imo State in April 2021.
She said she had not seen him since.
Esther Chinedu gave a similar account.
According to her, security operatives arrested her husband, Godspower Chinedu, in 2022, but the family later failed to trace him.
Caroline Chukwuma and Chinwendu Chidiebere also alleged that security operatives arrested their husbands before denying their families access to them.
Meanwhile, Nicolas Ejekwu said soldiers arrested his two sons at his home.
He claimed he later learned that they had been tortured and killed.
Cecilia Nmaoche also said her son disappeared after security operatives allegedly took him away in 2022.
The families appealed for government intervention.
Their message was direct: authorities should locate those who remain missing, release anyone held without lawful grounds or bring suspects before a competent court.
Government Points to Existing Complaint Channels
The Abia State Government, however, said it has mechanisms for addressing human rights complaints.
The state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ikechukwu Uwanna, spoke through the Director of the Citizens’ Rights Department, Chinonyere Onyemenaonu.
He said the department receives complaints, engages victims and makes recommendations for further action.
Although the Ministry of Justice cannot control police operations, he said, it can examine complaints brought before it and pursue appropriate legal and administrative steps.
Breaking the Cycle of Violence
The South-east has faced years of insecurity marked by attacks on security personnel, government facilities and civilians.
Government authorities have often linked parts of the violence to IPOB and other pro-Biafra groups.
IPOB has consistently denied responsibility for many of the attacks.
Amnesty, however, argues that the region’s crisis cannot be addressed only through security operations.
The organisation said authorities must also investigate alleged abuses committed during efforts to restore order.
It wants those investigations to be independent, credible and capable of producing justice for victims.
For the relatives who spoke in Umuahia, the demand extends beyond policy debates and official reports.
They want answers about the people who disappeared.
They want accountability where abuses occurred.
Above all, they want an end to a system in which families say they are often left searching for justice long after the arrests, raids and shootings have passed from public attention.
